E-mail Story
Print Friendly
Monday, June 29, 2009
UPDATED: Jury Selection Set To Begin Capital Murder Trial
By Betsy Blaney
Associated Press
LUBBOCK, Texas — Jury selection is scheduled to begin Tuesday in the capital murder trial of a man accused of killing a pregnant woman, her husband and young son in the Texas Panhandle in 2005.
Prosecutors are seeking the death penalty against Levi King, 26. He's already serving a life sentence for killing two people in his home state of Missouri the day before the Texas slayings.
Jury selection could take several weeks, a Lubbock County court official said.
Prosecutor Lynn Switzer declined to comment on the case Monday, citing a gag order. King's attorney, Joe Mar Wilson of Amarillo, did not immediately return a call.
The bodies of Brian Conrad, 31, Michell Conrad, 35, and Zach Doan, her 14-year-old son were found slain in their home south of Pampa on Sept. 30, 2005. Michell Conrad was six months pregnant with the couple's first child.
Michell Conrad's daughter, 10 at the time, survived and called 911. Texas authorities have not released the 911 tape, any details about how the girl survived or what she might have seen. It was not clear whether she would testify.
King was apprehended the same day at a border crossing in El Paso, Missouri officials have said. Missouri authorities have said they believe King left the area after he killed the pair there, headed south and then west on Interstate 40. The Conrad home is about 10 miles north of Interstate 40.
Authorities believe Orlie McCool, 70, and Dawn McCool, 47, were shot to death on the afternoon of Sept. 29, 2005, in their Pineville, Mo., home.
In March 2006, King was indicted on three counts of capital murder in the deaths in Texas. The indictment alleging King murdered Michell Conrad includes a separate count for her unborn child, who died as a result of the shootings.
A Gray County judge, Steven Emmert, ordered the trial moved to Lubbock.
Copyright ©2009 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
You also can send comments via our comment form
|
|
